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Wave power against coastal erosion

The Economist has an article on wave power technologies.

http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id482565

Among the inventions is the Oyster:

"The Oyster, a wave-power device from Aquamarine Power, another
Scottish firm, works in an entirely different way. It is an
oscillating metal flap, 12 metres tall and 18 metres wide, installed
close to shore. As the waves roll over it, the flap flexes backwards
and forwards. This motion drives pistons that pump seawater at high
pressure through a pipe to a hydroelectric generator. The generator is
onshore, and can be connected to lots of Oyster devices, each of which
is expected to generate up to 600kW. The idea is to make the parts
that go in the sea simple and robust, and to keep the complicated and
delicate bits out of the water. Testing of a prototype off the Orkney
coast is due to start this summer."

This seems to generate up to 20KW/metre. Could these be used to
prevent coastal erosion by dampening waves?

Imagine a line of these devices stretching 200km along the East Coast
of England, generating up to 4GW of power.

If these devices could become almost cost competitive (say 10c/KWhr)
coastal defence subsidies might pay the rest.